Undesirable aspects of Christian and secular universities: Reflections on Judge and Haidt

This article reviews the educational writings of historian Edwin Judge, particularly by providing a wider context for his paper The Undesirability of Christian Universities. It discusses differences between formal education and the churches in the Roman world and considers implications of these for modern Christian higher education. Given Judge’s argument for Christian involvement in secular universities (and against Christian higher education), it considers recent problems with secular universities, especially the phenomenon of academic ‘cancel culture’. To understand these problems, it considers the work of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and ‘Heterodox Academy’. The conclusion encourages Christians to seek excellence in research.